| Mike Pence Suggests Legal Abortions In U.S. Could End ‘In Our Time’ Posted: 28 Feb 2018 02:39 AM PST  Standing before a roomful of anti-abortion activists in Nashville on Tuesday, Mike Pence described the "great progress" made under President Donald Trump to limit women's access to legal abortions in the U.S. and abroad. Speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Susan B. Anthony List and Life Institute, an anti-abortion group, the vice president announced that "life is winning in America once again," before ticking off the many policies enacted under Trump aimed at limiting access to abortions.
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| Missing CDC doctor was passed up for promotion before his disappearance Posted: 28 Feb 2018 01:29 PM PST  Missing CDC doctor Timothy Cunningham was passed up for a promotion shortly before he disappeared without a trace more than two weeks ago, according to police. Cunningham, a highly regarded epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, went missing after he left work mid-day on Feb. 12. Atlanta Police Department Major Michael O'Connor said that on the morning of his disappearance, Cunningham called his sister before going to work and talking with his supervisor about a promotion that he didn't receive.
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| Independent group, now called Unite America, names its Senate candidates — all two of them Posted: 27 Feb 2018 02:47 PM PST  Unite America, formerly The Centrist Project, a group hoping to create a third political force in America, on Tuesday named the two candidates it plans to run for the U.S. Senate in November.
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| Lion kills woman at refuge of South African 'lion whisperer' Posted: 28 Feb 2018 06:21 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A lion that mauled a young woman to death in South Africa was under the care of a man known as the "lion whisperer" for his close interactions with the predators.
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| Father of Florida high school shooting victim to legislators: 'You all failed me and my little boy' Posted: 28 Feb 2018 07:08 AM PST  The father of one of the victims of the Parkland high school massacre gave an emotional testimony in front of Florida lawmakers on Tuesday during a four-hour discussion over a new school safety bill. "You legislators, you all failed me and my little boy," said Max Schachter, the father of Alexander Schachter, a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School two weeks ago. "Sadly, you have a unique opportunity in the state of Florida to be leaders and to unite this country around school safety," said Schachter.
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| India says farewell to Bollywood icon Sridevi Posted: 27 Feb 2018 11:25 PM PST  Thousands of heartbroken fans lined the streets of Mumbai Wednesday as India said farewell to Bollywood legend Sridevi Kapoor following her shock death from accidental drowning in a Dubai hotel bathtub aged just 54. Legends of Hindi cinema, including actresses Aishwarya Rai and Kajol, were among the mourners at the Celebration Sports Club in the Andheri West area of Mumbai -- the home of the Bollywood film industry. Several fans chanted prayers as Sridevi's body was brought the short distance from her home to the club at 9:00 am (0330 GMT).
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| Alex Jones Decries YouTube's Temporary Ban On Infowars, Asks Parkland Teen To Debate Posted: 27 Feb 2018 06:22 PM PST  According to The Hill, Infowars claimed it had received a notice from YouTube on Tuesday morning that it would be temporarily barred from uploading new content after receiving a second strike for videos it had posted about the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. InfoWars got another strike on their YouTube account for a Florida shooting video, now one strike left before they get banned.
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| Satanic Temple sues Arizona city to lead city council prayer Posted: 27 Feb 2018 04:23 PM PST  FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A group that invokes the name Satan as a metaphor for opposing religious tyranny has sued the well-off Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, accusing officials of discrimination after being denied an opportunity to give the opening prayer at a City Council meeting.
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| Trump rips Sessions's 'DISGRACEFUL' decision on probe of alleged FISA abuses Posted: 28 Feb 2018 08:31 AM PST  President Trump lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions's decision to ask the Justice Department's inspector general to look into claims that the FBI and other Obama administration officials misled a FISA court judge.
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| Father Of Florida Shooting Survivor Admits He Altered Email From CNN Posted: 27 Feb 2018 07:35 PM PST  Glenn Haab, the father of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Colton Haab, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he left out some words when forwarding an email that he and his son received from CNN producer Carrie Stevenson. CNN hit back against the claims on Friday, releasing a copy of the email exchange that shows Stevenson was informing Haab that his son had to ask a question "that he submitted" instead of a 700-word opening statement plus three questions and a closing statement that was sent over to the network after one question had already been agreed upon.
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| Scientists uncover a signal sent out by the first stars in the universe Posted: 28 Feb 2018 10:00 AM PST  For millions of years after the Big Bang, the universe was a cold place filled with hydrogen and helium created at the dawn of the universe. And then, suddenly, there was light. For the first time, a team of astronomers think they've detected a signal from some of the first stars that formed less than 180 million years after the Big Bang. Two new studies published in the journal Nature this week detail new evidence about when those stars formed after the Big Bang. SEE ALSO: Mysterious cosmic radio burst spotted in real time from Australia The new work also opens up questions about those early eons after the universe came to be, and may even reveal cracks in our understanding of physics. The researchers behind the new work didn't directly see those first stars bursting into being, but they did detect a faint signal showing hydrogen gas interacting with those first stars, effectively allowing the gas to be seen at various radio frequencies. A timeline of the universe.Image: N.R.Fuller, National Science Foundation"Finding this miniscule signal has opened a new window on the early universe," astronomer Judd Bowman of the University of Arizona, and lead author of one of the new studies said in a statement. "Telescopes cannot see far enough to directly image such ancient stars, but we've seen when they turned on in radio waves arriving from space," he said. How they did it Bowman and his team made these measurements thanks to a small radio antenna in Australia, called EDGES, which was able to detect the faint signals from the first stars because of its remote location, far from radio signals created by humans. What Bowman and his colleagues saw in the data appeared to confirm that those first stars formed just 180 million years after the Big Bang. The appearance of the radio waves also seems to match the way that signal is expected to look, according to theoretical models, the study says. "The signature of this absorption feature is uniquely associated with the first stars," Haystack Observatory director Colin Lonsdale, who is not an author of the study but does work on instrumentation that enabled it, said in a statement. "Those stars are the most plausible source of radiation that would produce this signal." The research team initially looked for the signal in a different radio wavelength, and when it wasn't found, they moved to another wavelength, where they did find that tell-tale signal created by hydrogen. Breaking physics as we know it The new research could also have some bearing on how we understand dark matter — the mysterious form of matter that hasn't been directly observed but seems to dominate 85 percent of the matter in our universe. In theory, dark matter shouldn't interact with regular matter, but the new study shows evidence that the hydrogen that dominated the early universe was actually much colder than expected, possibly implying that dark matter could have interacted with that early gas. In short, the new dark matter conclusions — detailed by Tel Aviv University astronomer Rennan Barkana in a separate study — could break physics as we understand it, if validated. "So far we detected dark matter only through its gravitational effect on visible matter (stars and gas). The existence of some other coupling would indicate new physics and help decipher the enigmatic nature of dark matter," Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astrophysicist Avi Loeb said via email. "It is possible, for example, that some fraction of the dark matter has a slight electric charge, so small that we would never detect it in environments other than the cosmic dawn," Loeb, who wasn't associated with the study, added. What's next? That said, this work is far from over. Scientists will have a long future in front of them filled with astrophysics experiments that will hopefully help figure out exactly what's going on with this data. EDGES ground-based radio spectrometer, CSIRO's Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.Image: CSIRO Australia"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," Loeb said. "The key for future research on this exciting frontier of the cosmic dawn would be to test the Bowman et al. result with other independent experiments." Those new experiments should be coming online in the coming years as well. While the new studies effectively detail the results from looking at this hydrogen signal in one dimension, other observatories like the Square Kilometre Array will be able to look at that signal in 3D, according to Loeb, hopefully illuminating exactly what was going on in that early epoch of the universe. "We should be guided by additional experiments. With future observations we will not only test the reality of the Bowman et al. signal but also be able to map the hydrogen in three dimensions..." Loeb said. "The details of future data will reveal whether there is excess cooling and if so whether it originates from the coupling between dark matter and hydrogen." WATCH: Finding alien life won't cause chaos and panic, according to scientists
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| North Carolina Man Broadcasts His Own Killing On Facebook Live Posted: 27 Feb 2018 02:20 AM PST  A man in Wingate, North Carolina live-streamed his own killing on Monday, police said. Prentis Robinson, 55, had been broadcasting a visit to the local police station on Facebook Live when he was shot multiple times on camera. Wingate police confirmed that Robinson captured the shooting on film, reported the Charlotte Observer.
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| What did Hope Hicks lie about? Newsroom readers have thoughts Posted: 28 Feb 2018 02:43 PM PST  "She tells Trump how great he is." "Does Hicks realize that she is not a contestant on 'The Bachelor'?" Hope Hicks resigned one day after reports claimed she told "white lies" for President Trump, but it's unclear what about. Newsroom readers have some theories. During a closed-door testimony, White House communications director Hope Hicks reportedly admitted her job has sometimes required her to tell "white lies" on the president's behalf. The admission has sparked questions and concern. Newsroom commenters believe: "Lies are lies" no matter how big or small. Others think that "anyone who doesn't take truth seriously … cannot be trusted." According to reports, Hicks insisted she didn't lie about the investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. What do you think Hicks lied about? Should "white lies" get a pass? Join the conversation in Newsroom.
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| North Korea shipping chemical weapons supplies to Syria, United Nations investigators say Posted: 27 Feb 2018 11:17 PM PST  North Korea has shipped supplies to the Syrian government that could be used to make chemical weapons, United Nations investigators have revealed. The disclosure, in a confidential 200-page long report seen by the New York Times, comes as the US and other countries have accused Syria of using chemical weapons on its own civilians, including a suspected chlorine gas attack in Eastern Ghouta in the past few days. The report indicates there have been major flaws in international efforts to isolate both countries, and the new evidence could dampen efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table following a diplomatic détente at the South Korean Winter Olympics. The items provided by North Korea reportedly included acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers. Investigators also detailed sightings of North Korean technicians working at chemical weapons and missile facilities inside Syria. The report appears to confirm long-standing fears that Pyongyang may be funding its own weapons of mass destruction programme by trading its technological expertise with third parties. It also supports suspicions since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 that President Bashar al-Assad has been assisted by the North Korean regime. People receive treatment at a hospital after alleged chlorine gas attack earlier this month Credit: Getty The possible chemical weapons components were part of at least 40 previously unreported shipments from North Korea to Syria between 2012 and 2017 of prohibited ballistic missile parts and materials that could be used either for civilian or military purposes. The UN declined to comment on the report, which was written by a panel of eight experts tasked with checking North Korea's compliance with sanctions. It may never be publicly released, but a spokesperson stressed that the "overarching message is that all member states have a duty and responsibility to abide by the sanctions that are in place." Experts who reviewed the document for the Times described it as the most detailed account to date of efforts to circumvent sanctions intended to curb the military powers of both countries. Syria war timeline But they concluded that it did not prove definitively that there was current, continuing collaboration between North Korea and Syria on chemical weapons. Hopes have been rising on the Korean peninsula that talks between South and North Korea over the Olympic Games could be expanded to include the US and eventually lead to a breakthrough over Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons programme. On Tuesday, senior US diplomat, Joseph Yun told South Korean newswire Yonhap that he remained "very hopeful" about the prospect of talks. Syrian warplanes strike eastern Ghouta despite Russian truce
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| Nikolas Cruz's Biological Mom Was a Drug Addict Who Gave Him Up for a $50,000 Fee: Report Posted: 28 Feb 2018 10:28 AM PST  He was given up for adoption when he was days old.
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| Powerful Men Who Lose Their Jobs Over Harassment Can Still Get Big Payouts Posted: 26 Feb 2018 09:17 PM PST  WASHINGTON ― The Me Too movement has a pattern: Someone accuses a powerful man of sexual misconduct. Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino mogul accused of pressuring workers to perform sex acts, made news earlier this month — not because he's getting a severance payment, but because he's not. NBC apparently did not plan to give a payout to Matt Lauer, but the network was reportedly considering a severance package for his onetime booker Matt Zimmerman, who was also dismissed over inappropriate conduct.
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| Alaska lawmaker cites Holocaust deaths to oppose gun control Posted: 28 Feb 2018 04:41 PM PST  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Republican and most senior member of the U.S. House argued against gun control by wondering how many Jewish people "were put in the ovens" because they were not armed.
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| Are we at a tipping point on guns? Posted: 28 Feb 2018 02:00 AM PST  Aroused activists helped end slavery and Jim Crow, and they're bringing about big changes in how men treat women at work. Can they do something about school shootings?
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| Protesters Descend On ICE San Francisco Headquarters After Immigration Raids Posted: 28 Feb 2018 03:49 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO ― Hundreds of activists gathered on Wednesday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building here to protest the arrests of more than 150 undocumented immigrants in recent days. Local activist groups organized the "emergency rally" to respond to the mass arrests in Northern California, just two weeks after more than 200 people were arrested in similar raids in the Los Angeles area. "We have come together today to show that the Northern California region stands together in denouncing the mass arrests that happened in the last three days," Blanca Vazquez, a media spokesperson for the protest, told HuffPost.
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| In free speech case, justices troubled by Fla. man's arrest Posted: 27 Feb 2018 03:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices seemed troubled Tuesday by the arrest of a Florida man during a city council meeting in Florida, an arrest he says was retaliation for being an outspoken critic of the city.
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| Anger as Israel denies its forces shot Palestinian teen Posted: 27 Feb 2018 07:41 AM PST  Israel on Tuesday denied its forces shot a Palestinian teenager and said he suffered a severe head injury when he fell off his bicycle, sparking outrage from activists and his family. Mohammed Tamimi, 15, confirmed to AFP that after being arrested from his home in the middle of the night he had told Israeli interrogators the cause of his misshapen skull was falling off his bike, not being shot. A cousin of prominent jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, he says he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during a protest in the occupied West Bank in December, leaving part of his skull missing.
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| Russia 'both arsonist and firefighter' in Syria: U.S. general Posted: 27 Feb 2018 02:24 PM PST  By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. general accused Russia on Tuesday of playing a destabilizing role in Syria and acting as "both arsonist and firefighter," as a brief truce unilaterally declared by Moscow in the eastern Ghouta region collapsed. The United States and Russia have been on different sides of the seven-year-old war, with Moscow heavily backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whose forces are besieging eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area near Damascus.
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| Is Ivanka Trump unqualified? Newsroom readers respond Posted: 27 Feb 2018 03:24 PM PST  "Ivanka and Jared must return to NYC and stay out of U.S. politics." "She's qualified, she's designed handbags, stilettos and a wonderful perfume fragrance, Ugh!" Newsroom readers are joining the chorus questioning if Ivanka Trump has too much power. The first daughter and adviser to dad President Trump recently traveled to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the latest eyebrow-raising appearance as part of her controversial post. Pundits and the public have long questioned her role and influence, but now White House chief of staff John Kelly is also said to be concerned. This week he made the call to downgrade the security clearance of Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner. According to a report, Kelly is frustrated and questioning whether the first daughter has the qualifications to represent the administration. Newsroom seems to agree: "We have children playing king and queen while poppa plays President," one reader wrote. Another chimed in: "To represent the U.S. should be an earned honor, not appointing relatives." What do you think? Does Ivanka deserve her power in the White House? Join the conversation in Newsroom.
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| Oprah Says She Would Run For President Under One Condition Posted: 28 Feb 2018 07:24 AM PST  "I've always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not," Oprah said in an interview with InStyle, conducted three weeks before her Globes speech. "Gayle ― who knows me as well as I know myself practically ― has been calling me regularly and texting me things, like a woman in the airport saying, 'When's Oprah going to run?'" Oprah revealed to InStyle. If Oprah did run, the "A Wrinkle In Time" actress already has experience with attention she'd receive from President Donald Trump.
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| How Trump's new campaign manager used Facebook to help him become president Posted: 27 Feb 2018 01:49 PM PST  Brad Parscale's new role of Trump 2020 campaign manager comes amid a spirited debate over just how much social media benefited the Republican candidate.
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| 'It's a lifestyle': Teens at Florida shooting club defend guns Posted: 27 Feb 2018 03:43 PM PST  Reanna Frauens, a lifelong gun enthusiast and a proud member of the Markham Skeet, Trap & Sporting Clays Club, is about the same age as many of the 17 victims killed by a shooter with an assault rifle at a Florida high school about a dozen miles away. "It's a horrible tragedy, but when people start promoting gun control, I am taken aback a little bit because it's a sport, it's a lifestyle, and a lot of people don't realize that," said Frauens, a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the politically powerful gun-rights advocacy group.
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| Use of private firm for Greitens investigation questioned Posted: 27 Feb 2018 06:01 PM PST  JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The St. Louis prosecutor's office said Tuesday that it has hired a Michigan firm to aid its investigation into Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to try to ensure that the probe remains independent.
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| Taiwan urges calm over panic buying of toilet paper Posted: 27 Feb 2018 02:50 AM PST  Shelves usually stacked with toilet paper, kitchen paper and boxed tissues stood empty in many hypermarkets and supermarkets as residents stockpiled supplies. Major online retailers had also run out, including PChome which reportedly sold five million packs of toilet paper in three days. The panic buying started after major hypermarkets were informed by toilet paper manufacturers of a 10 to 30 percent price hike from mid-March due to rising international pulp prices.
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| Will the Syria Conflict Continue to Escalate? Posted: 27 Feb 2018 05:33 PM PST  Moscow, Washington, Tehran and Ankara are all jockeying for power. In early February, western media reported that the United States had led a strike on the Russian mercenaries of Wagner PMC. Bloomberg News reported hundreds, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced a smaller number and noted that "Russian citizens" were injured.
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| Ryan Seacrest Will Work Red Carpet At Oscars Despite Sexual Misconduct Claims Posted: 27 Feb 2018 11:53 AM PST  E! has confirmed that Seacrest will be doing red carpet hosting duties before the Academy Awards on Sunday. Earlier this week, the TV personality's former personal stylist told Variety that Seacrest sexually harassed and assaulted her over seven years. Suzie Hardy says she was terminated in 2013 after she reported Seacrest to E! News' human resources executives.
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| 36 Tweets That Sum Up Life With 6-Year-Olds Posted: 28 Feb 2018 02:47 AM PST  Every year of a child's life is filled with new adventures, new ideas, new skills ... and new challenges for their parents.
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| Trump campaign nixes Kushner title amid legal questions Posted: 27 Feb 2018 12:48 PM PST  The Trump campaign appears to have fallen afoul of the Hatch Act while announcing that digital strategist Brad Parscale would run the 2020 operation. The statement referred to Jared Kushner by his official White House title.
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| Nassar victims help unveil sweeping child abuse legislation Posted: 26 Feb 2018 08:50 PM PST  LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Victims of imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar helped unveil what they described Monday as a sweeping rewrite of Michigan laws related to childhood sexual abuse, saying the changes would ease the ability to stop abuse and bring justice to survivors.
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| Protests as sanctioned Iran minister addresses UN rights meet Posted: 27 Feb 2018 10:09 AM PST  Demonstrators gathered outside the UN in Geneva Tuesday and some diplomats left in protest over an address by Iran's justice minister to the rights council, despite facing Swiss and EU sanctions over rights violations. Alireza Avaie took the podium at the Human Rights Council, slamming "appalling deficiencies" there and in other UN rights mechanisms, and accusing Washington and others of "exploiting human rights for their political ends". Standing near a large pyramid of shoes meant to represent the thousands killed in a 1988 massacre of political prisoners, demonstrator Safora Mohammadi, a 35-year-old law student, insisted Avaie was "a killer".
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| Syrian government ground forces attack Ghouta despite Russian truce plan Posted: 28 Feb 2018 12:18 PM PST  BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian government forces launched a ground assault on the edge of the rebel-held eastern Ghouta enclave on Wednesday, seeking to gain territory despite a Russian plan for five-hour daily ceasefires, a war monitor and sources on both sides said. Hundreds of people have died in 11 days of bombing of the eastern Ghouta, a swathe of towns and farms outside Damascus that is the last major rebel-controlled area near the capital. The onslaught has been one of the fiercest of Syria's civil war, now entering its eighth year.
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| Donald Glover Needed 'White Translator' To Convince FX To Allow 'N-Word' In 'Atlanta' Posted: 27 Feb 2018 09:13 AM PST  Donald Glover says he had to convince FX to allow him use the "N-word" in his show "Atlanta" by having a "white translator" talk to executives.
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| Mike Trout tops 2018 list of highest earning MLB players Posted: 27 Feb 2018 11:17 AM PST  Spring training has finally arrived and despite a lackluster offseason for free agents, several surprising names have bolstered their ranking on the league's highest-paid players list. Two-time Most Valuable Player for the Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout is this year's highest-paid player, topping Clayton Kershaw who held the top spot in 2016 and 2017. Giancarlo Stanton jumped from No. 69 on the list of highest-paid MLB players in 2017, earning $14.5 million, to No. 12 on this year's list after signing with the New York Yankees in December.
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| Court Orders Trump To Stop Revoking Dreamers' Protections Without Notice Posted: 27 Feb 2018 04:27 PM PST  WASHINGTON ― The Trump administration has to stop revoking undocumented young people's deportation protections without due process, a federal judge ruled on Monday. The new order does not affect President Donald Trump's effort — launched in September but currently on hold because of a separate court ruling — to end the broader Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez issued a preliminary injunction to halt that practice.
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| Walmart To Raise Age Requirement To Buy Firearms And Ammunition Posted: 28 Feb 2018 03:59 PM PST  Walmart has vowed to raise its age requirement to 21 years old for customers looking to purchase firearms or ammunition from their stores. The retail giant decided to change its firearms policy "in light of recent events," Walmart said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday. "We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller of firearms and go beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm," the company's statement read.
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| Delta is sued by Port Authority over 2015 skid at New York's LaGuardia Airport Posted: 27 Feb 2018 01:48 PM PST ![Delta is sued by Port Authority over 2015 skid at New York's LaGuardia Airport]( "Delta is sued by Port Authority over 2015 skid at New York's LaGuardia Airport") Delta Air Lines Inc was sued on Tuesday by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for damage caused when a jet skidded off a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport during a March 5, 2015, snowstorm. The complaint seeks $750,047 for property damage and other costs that allegedly occurred when Flight 1086 veered off Runway 13 after touchdown, struck a fence and came to rest on an embankment, just short of plunging into frigid Flushing Bay. According to the Port Authority, which operates the airport, the incident "was caused solely by the negligence of Delta and its agents," including the pilot of the MD-88 aircraft.
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| Prison work boot sales halted after guard kicked, killed Posted: 27 Feb 2018 02:49 PM PST  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania prison official said Tuesday the sale of work boots at all prison commissaries was halted because an inmate is accused of killing a guard by knocking him to the floor and kicking him in the head with a boot.
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| Mystery cloaks Japanese dad of 13 born from Thai surrogates Posted: 28 Feb 2018 05:01 PM PST  TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese businessman who won legal custody of his 13 children born from surrogates in Thailand is virtually anonymous in his home country.
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